


how you get the girl

by meretricula



Category: Taylor Swift (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 18:08:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5465960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meretricula/pseuds/meretricula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A workweek in the life of Karlie Kloss, barista extraordinaire, and her new favorite customer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	how you get the girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [botherd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/botherd/gifts).



Monday

Karlie noticed her as soon as she walked into the cafe: blonde, tall (relatively speaking: she was still a lot shorter than Karlie), and wearing a sundress with dinosaurs on it. She didn’t even look at the menu board before getting in line, so she might be a regular. Maybe switching to the morning shift over the summer wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

"Welcome to Kloss Kafé! What can I get you?" Karlie tried to put a little extra oomph into her regular customer service smile and got a high-wattage beam in response. _Please be single, please be gay,_ Karlie prayed. No rings on either hand, so there was a chance, at least. 

"Oh, um, just a small green tea, please?" 

"Sure, no problem. It’ll be two bucks even. Can I get a name for the cup?" 

"Taylor, with an O," Karlie’s new favorite customer said, and thankfully didn’t ask why Karlie would need to call her name, given that it would take her less time to pour boiling water over a teabag than make change for Taylor’s five and for that matter the cafe was almost completely deserted. 

"Taylor with an… O," Karlie repeated, carefully spelling it out in loopy letters on the side of the cup. "Is there another way to spell Taylor? I guess it’s never really come up for me before." 

"Well, sometimes people think I mean Tyler? So if I say there’s an O, they know it’s not that. I don’t know, it’s probably silly, it’s just going on the side of my cup, but, you know." Taylor smiled again and ducked her chin a bit, self-deprecating. 

"It’s not silly at all," Karlie said firmly as she dug out a teabag. "I’m Karlie, by the way. Karlie with a K." 

"Nice to meet you, Karlie with a K," Taylor said. There was a lilt of laughter in her voice and her eyes were dancing and she was so fucking cute, Karlie thought she was going to explode. "Are you new here? I don’t remember seeing you before." 

"No, I’ve been working here a while," Karlie said, eliding the part where she was one of the Klosses in Kloss Kafe and had been working there for as long as it had been in existence, "but I just switched to the morning shift. I guess I’ll be seeing a lot of you?" 

"I sure hope so," Taylor said, and waved a little as she collected her tea and headed for the door. 

"Hey, Taylor with an O!" Karlie called after her. She turned around, and Karlie’s mind went completely blank. "Oh, uh, I really like your dress," she said lamely. 

Taylor’s face lit up. "Thanks! Isn’t it great?" She did a little twirl to make the skirt float out around her. "My kids love it, too — I mean, dinosaurs, who doesn’t like dinosaurs, right? I got it way on sale back in December, which was _such_ a good idea. Totally worth keeping it in the back of my closet until sundress weather. It even has pockets, like, this is my perfect dress. Thanks for saying something, you totally made my day!" 

Karlie waved mechanically while she coped with the sensation of her stomach sinking down to the vicinity of her knees. _Kids, plural._ Empty ring finger or no, it didn’t sound like Taylor with an O was going to be starring in a rom-com meet-cute with Karlie anytime soon. 

 

Tuesday

Karlie wasn’t exactly proud of it, but she begged her sister Kristine to work out front the next morning while she nursed her wounded self-esteem and made muffins in back. It wasn’t like she was _surprised_ — she’d resigned herself to limited romantic prospects when she stayed in small-town upstate New York to work in the family cafe instead of heading into the city for college — but she’d managed to get her hopes up anyway. And she really had thought Taylor was flirting back. 

She was just pulling a tray of vegan lemon poppyseed out of the oven when Kristine stuck her head into the kitchen with a grin that made Karlie distinctly nervous. "Oh, _Kar_ -lie," Kristine said, her voice saccharine sweet. "Can you come out front and cover for my smoke break?" 

"You don’t smoke," Karlie pointed out. 

"I could have started," Kristine said. "You don’t know my life." 

"We live together, work together, and share all our genetic material. I know literally every single detail of your life. Also if you start smoking Mom is going to kill you." 

"You going to rat me out, baby sis?" Kristine rolled her eyes. "Get your lazy ass out there, we have customers who need sweet sweet caffeine and I want to use the bathroom." 

"I’m not lazy, I’m _baking_ ," Karlie complained, but she went. They didn’t keep exact track of who owed what to whom — they weren’t that kind of family — but any one of her sisters (and their mother, the ultimate arbitrator of all household disputes) would have agreed that the current balance of favors in their relationship was leaning more toward Kristine. "Sorry for the wait," she said as she walked through the kitchen door. "What can I get for — oh!" 

"Hi, Karlie with a K," Taylor said, beaming. Her sundress today had piano keys on it, and a small corner of Karlie’s brain immediately went to work weighing the relative cuteness of the musical theme with yesterday’s dinosaurs. "I’m so sorry if I interrupted what you’re working on — I was so bummed you weren’t here today, and then the other girl said you were in the kitchen, so…" 

"No, um, the muffins are all done now," Karlie managed. "Green tea again?" 

"Maybe I’ll try something new today," Taylor said. "What kind of muffins?" 

"Cornbread, double-chocolate, blueberry and lemon poppyseed. The blueberry are gluten-free and the lemon poppyseed are vegan." 

"Oh, they all sound so good! Which is your favorite?" 

Karlie lost the struggle to remain aloof in the face of Taylor’s painfully sincere interest and finally cracked a smile. "Well, I make them, so I think they’re all pretty good. I guess I get the most compliments on the lemon. It’s hard to find vegan food around here." 

"I’ll have a lemon poppyseed muffin, then, and whatever you think would go with that. Surprise me!" 

"It’s going to be a little hard to surprise you if you watch me make your drink," Karlie pointed out, but she was already on the move behind the bar getting a latte started. She wondered if everyone Taylor met wound up feeling like they’d just been run over by an extremely enthusiastic steamroller. 

"I won’t look," Taylor promised, dutifully closing her eyes. "So are you vegan? I’m sorry, is that rude to ask somebody? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to." 

"No, it’s fine," Karlie said. "I’m just vegetarian, mostly. It’s kind of tricky for me to get enough protein if you don’t eat eggs. You’re not lactose intolerant, are you?" she added belatedly, frowning at the milk she'd just steamed. 

"Nope, I eat everything! Not that — oh my god, not that there’s anything wrong with _not_ eating something, I think being a vegetarian is so cool, I absolutely love animals, I swear I stick my foot in my mouth at least ten times a day but this is bad even for me, I’m so sorry, please don’t be offended!" Taylor looked so embarrassed, with her eyes still closed so she was facing ever so slightly the wrong way, that Karlie had to laugh. 

"It’s fine! Like I said, I’m only mostly vegetarian anyway. I was just asking so I wouldn’t accidentally poison you with your drink." 

"I appreciate that," Taylor said seriously. She had turned a little to follow the sound of Karlie’s voice, so she was not-looking straight at her. "Milk is fine." 

"Okay, um, hang on for just a second? I have to run into the kitchen and get your muffin and you’ll be all set." Taylor just hummed as Karlie ducked into the kitchen, where Kristine was lurking by the door with an obnoxious smirk. "Don’t even start," Karlie hissed. "Cigarette break my ass." 

"Better hurry up and bring your customer her muffin," Kristine said sweetly. Karlie gave her the finger with her free hand as she hurried back out. The cafe had been pretty much deserted since the workday morning rush ended, but you never knew when the stay-at-home moms support group would descend asking for thirteen different variations on a half-soy no-fat sugar-free vanilla latte. Taylor was thankfully still the only person at the counter, her eyes shut and her face weirdly serene. 

"You can, uh, open your eyes now," Karlie said. 

Taylor jumped. "Oh! Oh, right." She peered down at the to-go cup Karlie had put in front of her. "What did you make me?" 

"It’s just a plain latte," Karlie said, half-apologizing. "I think it’s better not to get fancy flavors involved when you’re having the lemon muffin, so…" 

"I’m sure it’s going to be delicious," Taylor said with a beaming smile. "I’m so excited about this muffin now! How much do I owe you?" 

"Oh, uh," Karlie said, inexplicably stumbling over _it’s on the house_. Taylor’s yelp cut her off before she could manage to spit it out. 

"Oh my god, is that what time it is? I’m going to be late for work, keep the change, I’ll see you later, okay?" Fifteen seconds later the bell over the door was still ringing but Taylor was gone, and Karlie was moodily stuffing the change from Taylor’s twenty into the tip jar. 

"Real smooth, baby sis," Kristine said behind her. 

"Oh, shut up," Karlie said, and retreated to the kitchen to sulk. If she knew anything about her sister, she was never going to hear the end of this. 

 

Wednesday

Karlie thanked God for the small favor that none of her sisters was on shift with her on Wednesdays. She’d already gotten teased mercilessly by Kristine all day yesterday for getting tongue-tied over a customer, and of course Kariann and Kimberly had picked up on it as soon as they came in for the afternoon shift. Today, though, it was just Karlie and a couple of part-timers, all of whom were still afraid she would tattle to her mom if they slacked off for even a minute. At least this way, she figured, if Taylor _did_ come in — not that she expected her to, or was _staring at the door with a pathetic look on her face_ , fuck off, Kristine — they could have a conversation without the looming fear of abject humiliation. 

She forgot to reckon with Mrs. Kozlowski. 

Back when Mrs. Kozlowski had just had her first hip surgery, Karlie used to help her get settled at a table and would carry over her order and bus her dirty dishes, which was just decent customer service. She was a lot steadier on her feet these days, but Karlie had gotten in the habit of timing her break on Wednesdays so they could sit down together and trade gossip about Karlie’s sisters and Mrs. Kozlowski’s grandchildren, respectively. Their usual table was right by the window, which gave Karlie a great view of Taylor coming up the sidewalk in a cardigan and yet another unbearably adorable sundress, carrying a guitar case. 

"Good morning, Mrs. Kozlowski!" she said as soon as she walked into the cafe, which was just — Karlie didn’t know why she was surprised. Mrs. Kozlowski knew _everyone_. "Karlie, that muffin was _amazing_. I'm so sorry I had to run out like that yesterday — you were totally right about the latte, too, everything was perfect."

"I'm glad you liked it," Karlie said, cringing internally. She was looking up at Taylor — the sundress had _daisies_ on it and somehow suited her perfectly instead of looking obnoxiously twee — but she could _feel_ Mrs. Kozlowski's penetrating stare. 

"So you girls have met already," she said. "Wonderful! You'll be great friends, I know already, you're both such sweet girls. I don't know why I didn't think to introduce you before! Karlie is such a help to me whenever I come in here, Taylor, you wouldn't believe." 

"Of course I would believe it," Taylor said, smiling. "We only met on Monday and I already can tell she's an absolute sweetheart. And a great baker!" 

"And Karlie, you should have Taylor tell you about the city," Mrs. Kozlowski added, before Karlie could mumble a disclaimer or pass out from blushing too hard. Mrs. Kozlowski had lived upstate all her life: she never called New York anything but "The City", and you could practically hear the capital letters when she did. "She used to live there, you know." 

"Oh, you're from New York?" Karlie forgot her embarrassment and perked up immediately. "I really wanted to go there for school, but I couldn't make it work with the cafe and my family and everything." 

"Well, not originally, but I lived there for a couple years." Taylor shrugged, self-deprecating. "I loved it, but the rent is really insane, and then I got the job up here, so that was that. I still take the train in every once in a while to see my friends. You should come with me some time!" 

"Yeah, maybe," Karlie said vaguely. She didn't want a pity-trip to New York with Taylor just because Mrs. Kozlowski guilted her into it. "Do you mind if I leave you alone for a minute, Mrs. Kozlowski? I should go take Taylor's order so we don't keep her standing around all day." 

"Actually, normally I would love to stand around all day with you two," Taylor said. "But you're probably right. I don't want to be late for work! It was really nice to see you again, Mrs. Kozlowski. Make sure you come in and visit sometime soon!" 

"Of course, dear. But don't work too hard! You're looking a little worn down." 

Karlie led Taylor up the counter and shooed the part-timer manning the cashier out of the way, frowning. Mrs. Kozlowski was right: Taylor was paler than she'd been on Monday, and there were pretty heavy circles under her eyes. "Do you know what you'd like to order yet?" 

"The thing you made me yesterday was pretty much perfect, but could I get a bigger one today? I think I need the caffeine," Taylor said with a little laugh. 

"Sure, no problem. Large latte — no, I'll make it, Cassie," she added, when her co-worker moved toward the steamer. "You can ring her up, okay?" She waited until Cassie was done counting out Taylor's change, then asked, "Are you feeling all right? You don't really strike me as a large coffee kind of person, normally." 

"Yeah, just not enough sleep. Busy time at work right now, you know?" Taylor hefted her guitar case a little. "Hopefully I'll actually get a lunch break today, but the coffee should keep me going until then." 

"And your, um, your kids?" Karlie asked. "They're okay?"

Taylor's tired-looking face brightened. "Yeah, they're great! They're all super psyched about Sing-Along Wednesday, so I don't want to let them down. Thanks for asking, I probably talk about them way more than anybody actually wants to hear." 

"No, of course not," Karlie said on autopilot. She was trying to calculate how old Taylor could possibly be, given that she looked and dressed like she was in her mid-twenties at the latest but apparently had multiple children old enough for singalongs. She must have had them when she was incredibly young. "I hope today goes well." 

"The coffee is going to help!" Taylor smiled, saluted with her coffee cup, and headed out with another wave to Mrs. Kozlowski.

Karlie slid out from behind the bar to finish her break and scowled when she noticed Mrs. Kozlowski's raised eyebrow. "So…" she began. 

"No," Karlie said. 

"All right," Mrs. Kozlowski said peaceably, and started telling Karlie about her youngest grandchild's new obsession with My Little Pony. 

 

Thursday

All morning long, Karlie kept catching herself glancing towards the door to the cafe, but Taylor never came in. It was a harbinger of the day to come: first she burned the scones, and then it turned out that someone had forgotten to reorder soy milk and they were totally out, and then not one but two of the other baristas called in sick, which was why Karlie was still behind the counter, so tired she wanted to lie down and die, when Taylor shuffled in right before closing, walked up to the bar, and collapsed onto the counter with her head in her arms. 

"Are you... okay?" Karlie asked eventually. 

"I love children," Taylor said. It took Karlie a moment to interpret the muffled sounds as words, by which time Taylor had continued, "I do. I love my children and I love my job and I swear to god if I see one of those little monsters before I get a solid eight hours of sleep you're going to have to come bring me vegan coffee in prison because _I'll be locked up for murder_." She raised her head, staring straight at Karlie with eyes that had more than a little glint of madness. "Look at me, Karlie. _Look_." 

Karlie looked. "That is certainly a lot of glitter," she said carefully. 

"I'll never get it all off," Taylor said morbidly. "I might as well burn this dress now. I'll have to shave my head and exfoliate with sandpaper and never sit at my desk again." 

"That seems a little extreme," Karlie said. "Maybe try a hot shower first?" 

"They're not kidding when they call glitter the herpes of the craft world," Taylor said. "Trust me, I would know." There was a long pause, and then she started banging her head against the counter. "Oh my _God_. I swear I don't have herpes! I just know a lot about glitter! Kill me now." 

"I believe you," Karlie said quickly. "Could you, um, maybe stop getting glitter all over the coffee bar, though?" 

Taylor groaned, but she did stop thumping her head. "Are you allowed to serve me espresso in a bucket? Maybe a trough. That would keep me from sticking my foot even further down my throat, at least." 

"Are you sure you want coffee this late in the day?" Karlie asked dubiously. "I can make you some black tea if you just need something to get you home. Or -- do you need to cook dinner for your kids, too? Maybe a small coffee." 

Taylor picked her head up again to give Karlie a strange look. "I must have really impressed you with my professional dedication if you think I open my house to all the children in town and offer them home-cooked food, but no. Eight hours at work is more than enough. Especially during the first week of summer reading, God. Do you realize I had to wear fairy wings all day? _And_ this glitter face paint that won't wash off," she added, clearly brooding on her wrongs. "Sure, make the summer reading theme fairy tales. It's all fun and games until the entire children's room is covered in glitter for the rest of the summer. We'll still be picking it out of the carpet at Christmas and we're going to have to pretend it's snow." 

"Wait," Karlie said. "What do you do?" 

Taylor stared at Karlie some more. "I'm a children's librarian. I talk about my kids all the time and I've been complaining about how busy I am with summer reading since I met you. What did you think I did?" 

"Oh. _Oh._ I thought -- never mind. Definitely no coffee for you tonight, then. Do you like Earl Grey or English Breakfast better?" 

"Don't think I didn't notice you dodging the subject," Taylor informed her. "I'm letting it go because I'm tired and I'm afraid the answer is going to be embarrassing for me, but I still want brownie points for it. And I would actually love a cup of chamomile if you have it." 

"You can have chamomile tea and as many brownie points as you want. You can even have an actual brownie, do you like brownies?" 

"Karlie with a K, are you offering me a vegan brownie baked with your own two hands?" Taylor asked, gently teasing. "Because that's the only kind of brownie I'll trade your brownie points in for." 

"I did make them, but they're not vegan, sorry," Karlie said, flustered. "Let me just -- here, you should let the tea steep for a little bit. Do you want a brownie anyway?" 

"I would love a brownie," Taylor said seriously. "Thank you for making my terrible glitter-infested day less terrible." 

"It's my pleasure," Karlie said. "Do you have work tomorrow, too?" 

"Ugh, yes. We open early on Fridays, too, so I have to be there by nine. I'll try and stop by the cafe on my lunch break, though -- will you still be here?" 

"I think I can make that happen, yeah." Karlie smiled at Taylor, a little hesitantly, and then wider when an answering smile bloomed on Taylor's face. "You'd better get out of here before you fall asleep on your feet, though." 

"Nag, nag, nag," Taylor said, her usual cheerful mood apparently restored. "How much do I -- "

"They're on the house," Karlie said firmly. "Go home." 

Taylor laughed. "All right, but I'm buying lunch tomorrow. Good night!" 

Karlie waved until Taylor was safely out of the cafe, and then she let herself dance a little as she locked up and put up all the chairs. 

 

Friday

Karlie felt like a creeper for hanging around on the bench next to the library parking lot at 8:30 in the morning, but it was worth it to see the smile on Taylor's face as she got out of her car. "I have a bucket of espresso for Taylor with a O," Karlie called to her, picking up the travel mug she'd brought from home. 

"You're an angel in disguise," Taylor said, reaching out for the coffee. "I appreciate you so much. Are you actually skipping work to bring me my morning coffee right now?" 

"I have the morning off since I closed yesterday, but I can pretend that I'm skipping work if that's a bigger gesture, I guess." 

"Skipping a morning in bed is the biggest gesture," Taylor said firmly. "Now you have to tell me what kind of gesture I can make for you. No, you don't get to say nothing," she added, cutting off Karlie's protest. "You got up stupidly early and brought me coffee and I want to do something for you. Fair is fair." 

"Um. I mean, you totally don't have to, but I guess if you meant it the other day about coming with you sometime when you go to New York -- "

"What are you doing this Sunday?" Taylor interrupted. 

"Uh," Karlie stuttered. "Nothing?"

"My ex-roommate is playing an open mic night at some hole in the wall in Brooklyn and I would really, really like it if you would come to the city for the day with me. Sound good?" 

"Sounds great."

"Perfect," Taylor said. She stood on tip-toe to press a kiss to Karlie's cheek. "I have to go get set up for storytime, but I'll see you around one at the cafe?" 

"It's a date," Karlie said, feeling daring. 

"I'm glad you're finally getting with the program, Karlie with a K," Taylor said with a huge smile. This time Karlie was the one to steal a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is (obviously) from a Taylor Swift song.


End file.
